Bill Corbett

Bill Corbett is a key figure in the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" universe, both as a writer and an onscreen performer. Corbett was born in Brooklyn, New York and went to Yale Drama School. He joined the cast and writing team of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (1988-99) during the show's switchover from Comedy Central to the SciFi Channel (now SyFy), replacing departing writer/performer Trace Beaulieu as wisecracking Crow T. Robot. He also performed opposite Mary Jo Pehl and Kevin Murphy in the show's original sketches as The Observer, a hapless intergalactic being. When MST3K wound down in 1999, Corbett joined Murphy and series head writer Michael J. Nelson as a comedy team. Their first project was an animated miniseries, "The Adventures of Edward the Less" (SyFy 2001). This was followed by a return to the art of "riffing," as MST3K's comic style was called, first under the name The Film Crew and later as RiffTrax. On his own, Corbett co-wrote the script for the Eddie Murphy science fiction comedy "Meet Dave" (2008) with Rob Greenberg. The RiffTrax team returned to television in April 2014 with the special "Total RiffOff" (2014) on the National Geographic Channel, riffing over footage from the channel's documentaries.